Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million; it sold two million copies in the United States and over eight million copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah appeared in her first major film, Romeo Must Die. She contributed to the film's soundtrack, which spawned the single "Try Again". The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely on airplay, making Aaliyah the first artist in Billboard history to achieve this feat. "Try Again" earned Aaliyah a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist.

After filming Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah filmed her part in Queen of the Damned. She released her third and final album, Aaliyah, in 2001. On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah and eight others were killed in an airplane crash in The Bahamas after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat". The pilot, Luis Morales III, was unlicensed at the time of the accident and had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system. Aaliyah's family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Blackhawk International Airways, which was settled out of court. Since then, Aaliyah has achieved commercial success with several posthumous releases. Selling over 24 million records worldwide, she has been credited for helping redefine R&B and hip hop and has been named the "Princess of R&B".

With the release of Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, rumors circulated of a relationship between Aaliyah and Kelly.[9][19] Shortly after, there was speculation about a secret marriage with the release of "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" and the adult content that Kelly had written for Aaliyah.[20]Vibe magazine later revealed a marriage certificate that listed the couple allegedly married on August 31, 1994, in Sheraton Gateway Suites in Rosemont, Illinois.[9][20] Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, was listed as 18 on the certificate; the illegal marriage was reportedly annulled in February 1995 by her parents.[12][20][21] The pair continued to deny marriage allegations, stating that neither was married.[19]

Plane crash, death and wrongful death lawsuit

Prior to filming the music video for "Rock the Boat", Aaliyah told the German newspaper Die Zeit a premonition concerning one of her repetitive dreams: "Suddenly, I lift off. Faraway. How do I feel? As if I am swimming in the air. Free. Weightless. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me. It's a wonderful feeling".[42] On August 25, 2001, at 6:45 pm (EST), Aaliyah and various members of the record company boarded a twin engine Cessna 402B (N8097W) at Marsh Harbour, Abaco Islands, The Bahamas, to travel to an airport in Opa-locka, Florida, after they completed filming the music video for "Rock the Boat".[43] They had a flight scheduled the following day, but with filming finishing early, Aaliyah and her entourage were eager to return to the United States. They made the decision to leave immediately. Against the advice of baggage handlers and the pilot, all the equipment from the shoot was loaded on the plane.[44] The group was unaware that the plane was unable hold all the equipment of the Cessna 404 they had initially flown in by.[45] Therefore, the aircraft exceeded the standard weight and balance tolerance limit provided by Cessna.[44] The plane crashed shortly after takeoff, about 200 feet (60 m) from the runway.[43] Aaliyah, pilot Luis Morales III, hair stylist Eric Forman, Anthony Dodd, security guard Scott Gallin, video producer Douglas Kratz, stylist Christopher Maldonado, and Blackground Records employees Keith Wallace and Gina Smith were killed.[46]

According to findings from an inquest, conducted by the coroner's office in The Bahamas, Aaliyah suffered from "severe burns and a blow to the head", in addition to severe shock and a weak heart.[47] The coroner theorized that, even if Aaliyah had survived the crash, her recovery would have been virtually impossible given the severity of her injuries.[48] The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report stated that "the airplane was seen lifting off the runway, and then nose down, impacting in a marsh on the south side of the departure end of runway 27."[49] It also indicated that the pilot was not approved to pilot the plane he was attempting to fly. Morales falsely obtained his Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) license by showing hundreds of hours never flown, and he may also have falsified how many hours he had flown in order to get a job with his employer, Blackhawk International Airways.[50] Additionally, an autopsy performed on Morales revealed traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system.[51] Further investigations determined the plane was over its total gross weight by 700 pounds and was loaded with one more passenger than it was allowed to carry.[52] John Frank of the Cessna Pilots Association stated that the plane was "definitely overloaded".[53] The NTSB reported that the total gross weight of the plane was "substantially exceeded", which caused the center of gravity to be pushed too far aft.[49]

Aaliyah's funeral was held on August 31, 2001, at the Saint Ignatius Loyola Church in New York. Her body was set in a silver casket, which was carried in a glass hearse and was drawn by horse.[54] An estimated 800 mourners were in attendance of the procession.[12][55] Among those in attendance to the private ceremony were Timbaland, Lil' Kim and Sean Combs.[54] After service, 22 white doves were released to symbolize each year of Aaliyah's life.[56] She was buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery.[57]

The day of the crash was Morales' first official day with Blackhawk International Airways, an FAA Part 135 single-pilot operation. In addition, Morales was not registered with the FAA to fly for Blackhawk. As a result of the accident, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Aaliyah's parents and was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[58] Barry & Sons, Inc., a corporation formed in 1992 to develop, promote and capitalize Aaliyah and to oversee the production and distribution of her records and music videos, brought an unsuccessful lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against Instinct Productions LLC, the company that was hired in August 2001 to produce the music video for "Rock the Boat". The case was dismissed due to New York's wrongful death statute only permitting certain people to recover damages for wrongful death.[59][60]

She went on to win two posthumous awards at the American Music Awards of 2002; Favorite Female R&B Artist and Favorite R&B/Soul Album for Aaliyah.[66] Her second and final film, Queen of the Damned, was released in February 2002. Before its release, Aaliyah's brother, Rashad, re-dubbed part of her lines during post-production.[67][68] It grossed $15.2 million in its first weekend, ranking number one at the box office.[69] In December 2002, a collection of previously unreleased material was released as Aaliyah's first posthumous album, I Care 4 U. A portion of proceeds was donated to the Aaliyah Memorial Fund, a program that benefits the Revlon UCLA Women Cancer Research Program and Harlem's Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.[70] It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 280,000 copies in its first week.[65] The album's lead single, "Miss You", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[63] In August of the following year, clothing retailer Christian Dior donated profits from sales in honor of Aaliyah.[71]

Aaliyah was signed to appear in several future films, including Honey (recast to Jessica Alba).[72]Some Kind of Blue and a Whitney Houston-produced remake of the 1976 film Sparkle were canceled due to Aaliyah's death.[2][73] Before her death, Aaliyah had filmed part of her role in The Matrix Reloaded and was scheduled to appear in The Matrix Revolutions as Zee.[24] The role was later recast to Nona Gaye.[40] Aaliyah's scenes were later included in the tribute section of the Matrix Ultimate Collection series.[74] In 2005, Aaliyah's second compilation album, Ultimate Aaliyah was released in the UK by Blackground Records.[75]Ultimate Aaliyah is a three disc set, which included a greatest hits audio CD and a DVD.[75] Andy Kellman of Allmusic remarked "Ultimate Aaliyah adequately represents the shortened career of a tremendous talent who benefited from some of the best songwriting and production work by Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and R. Kelly."[75]

Musical style and image

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Aaliyah had a vocal range of a soprano.[9] With the release of her debut single "Back & Forth", Dimitri Ehrlich of Entertainment Weekly expressed that Aaliyah's "silky vocals are more agile than those of self-proclaimed queen of hip-hop soul Mary J. Blige."[77] Aaliyah described her sound as "street but sweet", which featured her "gentle" vocals over a "hard" beat.[78] Though Aaliyah did not write any of her own material,[9] her lyrics were described as in-depth.[79][80] She incorporated R&B, pop and hip hop into her music. Her songs were often uptempo and melancholy, revolving around "matters of the heart".[76][81] Her songs have been said to have "crisp production" and "staccato arrangements" that "extend genre boundaries" while containing "old-school" soul music. When experimenting with other genres, such as Latin pop and heavy metal, writers panned the attempt.[81] As her albums progressed, writers felt that Aaliyah matured, calling her progress a "declaration of strength and independence".[76][80]Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described her eponymous album, Aaliyah, as "a statement of maturity and a stunning artistic leap forward" and called it one of the strongest urban soul records of its time.[80] She portrayed "unfamiliar sounds, styles and emotions", but managed to please critics with the contemporary sound it contained.[80] Ernest Hardy of Rolling Stone felt that Aaliyah reflected a stronger technique, where she gave her best vocal performance.[76] Others felt that she was "satisfying rather than extraordinary", stating that she added little to modern R&B.[82][83]

As an artist, Aaliyah often voiced that she was inspired by a number of performers. These include Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sade, En Vogue, Nine Inch Nails, 'N Sync, Korn, Britney Spears, The Notorious B.I.G., Prince, Naughty by Nature, Johnny Mathis and Janet Jackson.[84] Aaliyah expressed that Michael Jackson's Thriller was her "favorite album" and that "[n]othing will ever top Thriller."[84] She stated that she admired Sade because "she stays true to her style no matter what... she's an amazing artist, an amazing performer... and I absolutely love her."[84] Aaliyah expressed she had always desired to work with Janet Jackson—whom she had drawn frequent comparison to over the course of her career, stating "I admire her a great deal. She's a total performer... I'd love to do a duet with Janet Jackson."[84][85][86][87] Jackson reciprocated Aaliyah's affections, commenting "I've loved her from the beginning because she always comes out and does something different, musically." Jackson also stated she would have enjoyed collaborating with Aaliyah.[84]

Aaliyah focused on her public image throughout her career. She often wore baggy clothes and sunglasses, stating that she wanted to be herself.[88] She described her image as being "important… to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack".[89] She often wore black clothing, starting a trend for similar fashion among women in United States and Japan.[9][90] Aaliyah participated in fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger's All America Tour and was featured in Tommy Jean ads, which depicted her in boxer shorts, baggy jeans and a tube top. Hilfiger's brother, Andy, called it "a whole new look" that was "classy but sexy".[90] When she changed her hairstyle, Aaliyah took her mother's advice to cover her left eye, much like Veronica Lake.[91] In 1998, she hired a personal trainer to keep in shape, and exercised five days a week and ate diet foods.[92] Aaliyah was praised for her "clean-cut image" and "moral values".[93]

Legacy

Aaliyah has been credited for helping redefine R&B and hip hop in the 1990s, "leaving an indelible imprint on the music industry as a whole."[94][95] Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote Aaliyah ranks among the "elite" artists of the R&B genre, as she "played a major role in popularizing the stuttering, futuristic production style that consumed hip-hop and urban soul in the late '90s."[96] Described as one of "R&B's most important artists" during the 1990s,[97] her second studio album, One in a Million, became one of the most influential R&B albums of the decade.[98] According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, Aaliyah provided a "missing link" between hip hop and electronica.[99] Having sold 8.1 million albums in the United States and over 24 million records worldwide,[100][101] Aaliyah has been named the "Princess of R&B"[102] and "prove[d] she was a muse in her own right".[103] Ernest Hardy of Rolling Stone dubbed her as the "undisputed queen of the midtempo come-on".[76]

^Johnson, Connie (September 28, 1996). "Aaliyah's Spirit Sounds Like a 'Million'". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company): p. 8. ISSN04583035. "Kelly, who produced Aaliyah's 1994 hits 'Back and Forth' and 'At Your Best (You Are Love),' took a girl with admittedly thin vocal chops—but a truckload of poise and precocity—and turned her into the most convincing studio-produced marvel this side of 'Control'-era Janet Jackson."

^Wiltz, Teresa (July 22, 2001). "Aaliyah's Peek Performance". The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company): p. G.02. ISSN01908286. "Aaliyah is a contemporary of those other barely-post-adolescent R&B crooners, from Mya to Monica to Brandy et al. But with her edge and attitude—not to mention dance skills—the 21-year-old actually has more in common with Janet Jackson."

Aaliyah was borm on January 16, 1979 in New York. She grew up in Detroit (Michigan). From her youth, she began to sing : she did singing competitions, castings and shows.
Her career began in 1994 with her album " Age ain't nothing but a number " but she continued going to High School of the Performing Arts.
In 1996, Aaliyah's second album came out with R.Kelly as producer : " One in a million ". Her music seduced a public always bigger. Aaliyah always wished playing act and she had her leading role in " Romeo must die " realised by Andrzei Bartkowiak (2000). And then she played in " Queen of the damned " in 2000 too.
In 2001, she came back with her third album called " Aaliyah ", the most personal of her whole career. She put a lot into it, as a singer and as an executive producer with her uncle by her side. It's the album of maturity. She died on August 25, 2001 in a plane crash in the Bahamas.